Monday, September 16, 2013

#Occupy Wall Street!: It's So Not Over!

Happy Birthday #2

 (A year ago, on the eve of the First Birthday of #Occupy Wall Street!, I fiddled and futzed with my old Dell Laptop; hooked up an $8 microphone; dusted off the guitar, harmonica and vocal chords and created a music video of a revised version of  "The Flame of Liberty Park" as a birthday present to the courageous souls who put their hearts on the line at Zuccotti Park! It seems it's that time again! Happy Birthday #OWS! And now you are two!)




I wrote the first version of "The Flame of Liberty Park" the night that Mayor Bloomberg first drew a line in the sand, threatening to clear Zuccotti Park at daybreak.  If you remember, MoveOn.org had then rapidly collected and delivered 250, 000 signatures to City Hall demanding that the Mayor back off and thousands of NYC union members had showed up to bolster the Occupiers.  It was a tense time.  (I was tuned that night from MA via Livestream)  As dawn approached the word came in.   Mayor Bloomberg had backed off.  A whoop went up!  Folks were ecstatic!

Well, as we all know, time rolled on and a couple of months later, under the cover of darkness, the  mayor's militarized minions swept the park.   Yet, as many of us know, the Occupy Spirit rolls on, alive and well, in many forms--in NYC (see Occupy Sandy) and throughout the world. 

Although the Top Dogs of Canine Capitalism continue to beat the drums of war, violence, avarice, and greed, a whole bunch of us continue to march to the beat of a different drummer.  In our heart of hearts we know a better world is possible. It's only a matter of time.

(CONTINUED)

My Humble Take on the Real Deal

I believe that the movement for peace, economic democracy and social justice is a Spiritual Quest. No mean feat, what is called for is a True Revolution of the Heart and Mind--and it starts with each of us.

This revolution has to be Peaceful. The Hippies (and Jesus and Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. King, et al) had it right. It really is all about Peace and Love. Besides being a total drag, violence just doesn't work. It keeps our wheels spinning in fear, anger and pain. Who needs that?

Besides some hard work, I think the Revolution also calls for dancing, plenty of laughter, and some sitting around just doing nothing. (Some folks call it meditation.)


As Stephen Gaskin, proclaimed years ago:

"We're out to raise Hell--in the Bodhisattvic* sense."

Doesn't that sound like some serious fun?

(*The Bodhisattva Vow is a set of commitments made in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. It basically says I vow to get my act together and figure it out well enough to really help out--and I ain't gonna stop until everybody is covered.

I've found that doesn't necessarily have to happen in that order. It's best to try to help out even before you have it all together! Like right now.)

-----Brother Lefty Smith, Founding S.O.B*